For too long – at least since the presidency of Ronald Reagan – conservatives have failed to make our case to young people. We have failed to explain how the conservative view of politics is truly distinct from – and superior to – the progressive view. The most important disagreements between conservatives and progressives today are often over the biggest things: our conception of justice and the common good, our understanding of the good life and human flourishing. But I think the most clarifying way to bring out these differences between the Right and the Left is to compare the visions of American life underlying our immediate political and policy agendas. These visions represent the basis for how each side understands the present and what they hope for in the future... they inform how we diagnose a problem and they shape the solutions we propose. One of the clearest and most revealing illustrations of the progressive vision of American society that I have ever come across was the Obama campaign’s web slideshow from the summer of 2012 called Life of Julia. Anyone remember it? For those fortunate enough to have avoided it, the Life of Julia was a series of animated slides telling the story of a fictional woman who was meant to represent the average American woman. Viewers could scroll through the slides and see how, at every stage of life from age 3 to 67, Julia was not just enriched – but fulfilled – by a federal government program. When I saw it, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry... I think I did both. You can read the rest of the speech that I delivered last night to the students at Hillsdale College here:
Posted on: Wed, 22 Oct 2014 18:32:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015